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The Many Races
The civilized races that appeared on Negrotharl millennia ago adopted the moniker "The Many Races" to denote that, though they're diverse, they all are together in the grand scheme of things. The Many Races have undergone drastic changes since they first arrived on Negrotharl, but none as drastic as the changes that have taken place since The Banishment. Below are descriptions of each race. Most of the information here comes from old texts from older scholars, and most of it holds true to today. When necessary, notes have been included to explain changes that have occurred since The Banishment. Common Races While not known to the inhabitants of Negrotharl there are a group of races whose population has been effected less than any other by The Banishment. This is not to say that they vastly outnumber the other races, but they do have a slightly greater presence than many other races. It's also important to note that some of these races may have been changed in other ways. * Elves - Long lived race that are generally seen as vermin. Frequently are slaves or are impoverished. * Dwarves - Short and stocky race who have a penchant for stone and metal work. * Gnomes - Short and quirky race known for their eccentricity and wanderlust. * Half-Elves - An unfortunate race, untrusted by both halves of their hertiage. Capable of great things, but rarely given the chance to prove it. * Halflings - Race of generally well-spirited folk who find great comfort in home and community. * Half-Orcs - Menacing race that often finds themselves the in the unfortunate situation of "biggest guy in the room." * Humans - Capable of a great deed, but often misunderstood by the other races. * Hobgoblins - Fierce brutes who frequently dive full heartedly into the stereotypes of their race. Uncommon Races Beyond the common races there are a group of races that, while affected, were less drastically affected by The Banishment than those that had Outsider blood. For most it meant significantly reduced lifespans, which weren’t understood to be magically lengthened before The Banishment, but were proven to be true once magic returned. While it’s not understood why these races were affected more than the common races, a few guesses have been made. Members of the Rare Races have suggested that it was simply that the ancestors of the banished members of the Uncommon Races who disappeared likely bred with an outsider at some point and that blood lead to their demise. Some of the more suspicious members of society however, hold that the spell casted by the Arcanists at Delroth’s Academy banished all who were allied with the Summoned Army and that all those who were banished were plotting against the inhabitants of Negrotharl. The truth of why it happened will likely remain a mystery forever. * Catfolk - Race of big-cat-like creatures, often described as quiet and pensive. * Gripplis - Frog-like race of creatures who tend to avoid civilization. * Kitsune - Fox/human Shapeshifting race who delight in the lingual arts. * Kobolds - Small, dragon-like race who seem to have an inferiority complex related to their physical apperance. * Orcs - Debated member of the Many Races, usually live in tribes. * Ratfolk - Rat-like humanoid race that enjoy subteranean and dry areas. Known for hoarding and living in squalor. * Tengus - Bird-like humanoid race that has a tenancy to be impulsive and rash. * Vishkanyas - Mysterious race who possess scaley skin. They have a knack for secrecy. * Wyvarans - Hulking beast-like race believed to be distantly related to both Kobolds and Wyverns. Rare Races Of the Many Races, these races were the most affected by The Banishment. The majority of them were Banished, and their family members stopped producing outsider-blooded babies until magic returned to Negrotharl. Mistrust created by The Banishment caused many outsider-blooded families to go into hiding or flee their homeland. The lifespans of all outsider-blooded races’ were greatly reduced post-banishment, but since the return of magic their lifespans appear to be returning to their pre-banishment lengths, though at a much slower pace than those of the Uncommon Races. * Aasimars - Celestial-touched race, who are often believed to be good omens, but just as often prove otherwise. * Dragonborn - Dragon-blooded race who inherit much more from their draconic cousins than Kobolds do. * Ifrits - Fire Plane-touched race who embody the aspects of fire: passion, temper, imperious, etc * Oreads - Earth Plane-touched race who embody the aspects of earth: Stoicism, resolve, contemplative, etc * Samsarans - Strange race who reincarnate upon death. Often avoided by the superstitious because of their ties to they cycle of life. * Sylphs - Air-Plane-touched race who embody the aspects of air: abstract thinking, restlessness, focus * Tieflings - Fiend-touched race, who are often believed to be bad oments, but just as often prove otherwise * Undines - Water-Plane-touched race who embody the aspects of water: persistence, nurturing, grace, etc New Races The New Races are a group of races that have little to nothing in common, but that did not exist when the Many Races arrived on Negrotharl. Most are also extremely rare and therefore little is known about them or their culture, if they have any. * Dhampir - * Nagaji - * Suli - * Vanaras - * Wayangs - * Aasimar - Creatures blessed with a celestial bloodline, aasimars seem human except for some exotic quality that betrays their otherworldly origin. While aasimars are nearly always beautiful, something simultaneously a part of and apart from humanity, not all of them are good, though very few are evil. * Catfolk - A race of graceful explorers, catfolk are both clannish and curious by nature. They tend to get along with races that treat them well and respect their boundaries. They love exploration, both physical and intellectual, and tend to be natural adventurers. * Changeling - Women of strange powers, changelings are the unaware offspring of hags, living with mysterious gifts and unknowingly awaiting a call to become a hag themselves. * Dhampir - The accursed spawn of vampires, dhampirs are living creatures tainted with the curse of undeath, which causes them to take damage from positive energy and gain healing from negative energy. While many members of this race embrace their dark sides, others are powerfully driven to rebel against their taint and hunt down and destroy vampires and their ilk. * Duergar - Gray skinned, deep-dwelling dwarves who hate their lighter skinned cousins, duergar view life as constant toil ending only in death. Though these dwarves are typically evil, honor and keeping one's word means everything to them, and a rare few make loyal adventuring companions. * Ganzi - The ganzi share many traits with the Maelstrom’s true children: proteans. They are fluid and flexible, resilient, resistant to the energies of decay and entropy, and can sense the delicate currents of chaos that bind the planes together, alerting them to danger and deception and allowing enterprising ganzi to stir those eddies and rewrite a creature’s fortunes. * Gillmen - Survivors of a land-dwelling culture whose homeland was destroyed, gillmen were saved and transformed into an amphibious race by the aboleths. Though in many ways they appear nearly human, gillmen's bright purple eyes and gills set them apart from humanity. Reclusive and suspicious, gillmen know that one day the aboleths will call in the debt owed to them. * Goblin - Crazy pyromaniacs with a tendency to commit unspeakable violence, goblins are the smallest of the goblinoid races. While they are a fun-loving race, their humor is often cruel and hurtful. Adventuring goblins constantly wrestle with their darkly mischievous side in order to get along with others. Few are truly successful. * Grippli - Furtive frogfolk with the ability to camouflage themselves among fens and swamps, gripplis typically keep to their wetland homes, only rarely interacting with the outside world. Their chief motivation for leaving their marshy environs is to trade in metal and gems. * Hobgoblin - These creatures are the most disciplined and militaristic of the goblinoid races. Tall, tough as nails, and strongly built, hobgoblins would be a boon to any adventuring group, were it not for the fact that they tend to be cruel and malicious, and often keep slaves. * Ifrit - Ifrits are a race descended from mortals and the strange inhabitants of the Plane of Fire. Their physical traits and personalities often betray their fiery origins, and they tend to be restless, independent, and imperious. Frequently driven from cities for their ability to manipulate flame, ifrits make powerful fire sorcerers and warriors who can wield flame like no other race. * Kitsune - These shapeshifting, foxlike folk share a love of mischief, art, and the finer things in life. They can appear as a single human as well as their true form, that of a foxlike humanoid. Kitsune are quick-witted, nimble, and gregarious, and because of this, a fair number of them become adventurers. * Kobold - Considering themselves the scions of dragons, kobolds have diminutive statures but massive egos. A select few can take on more draconic traits than their kin, and many are powerful sorcerers, canny alchemists, and cunning rogues. * Nagaji - It is believed that nagas created the nagaji as a race of servants and that the nagaji worship their creators as living gods. Due to their reptilian nature and strange mannerisms, these strange, scaly folk inspire fear and wonder in others not of their kind. They are resistant to both poison and mind-affecting magic. * Orc - Savage, brutish, and hard to kill, orcs are often the scourge of far-flung wildernesses and cavern deeps. Many orcs become fearsome barbarians, as they are muscular and prone to bloody rages. Those few who can control their bloodlust make excellent adventurers. * Oread - Creatures of human ancestry mixed with the blood of creatures from the Plane of Earth, oreads are as strong and solid as stone. Often stubborn and steadfast, their unyielding nature makes it hard for them to get along with most races other than dwarves. Oreads make excellent warriors and sorcerers who can manipulate the raw power of stone and earth. * Ratfolk - These small, ratlike humanoids are clannish and nomadic masters of trade. Often tinkers and traders, they are more concerned with accumulating interesting trinkets than amassing wealth. Ratfolk often adventure to find new and interesting curiosities rather than coin. * Suli - Also called suli-jann, these humanoids are the descendants of mortals and jann. These strong and charismatic individuals manifest mastery over elemental power in their adolescence, giving them the ability to manipulate earth, fire, ice, or electricity. This elemental power tends to be reflected in the suli's personality as well. * Sylph - Ethereal folk of elemental air, sylphs are the result of human blood mixed with that of airy elemental folk. Like ifrits, oreads, and undines, they can become powerful elemental sorcerers with command over their particular elemental dominion. They tend to be beautiful and lithe, and have a knack for eavesdropping. * Tengu - These crowlike humanoid scavengers excel in mimicry and swordplay. Flocking into densely populated cities, tengus occasionally join adventuring groups out of curiosity or necessity. Their impulsive nature and strange habits can often be unnerving to those who are not used to them. * Tiefling - Diverse and often despised by humanoid society, tieflings are mortals stained with the blood of fiends. Other races rarely trust them, and this lack of empathy usually causes tieflings to embrace the evil, depravity, and rage that seethe within their corrupt blood. A select few see the struggle to smother such dark desires as motivation for grand heroism. * Undine - Like their cousins, the ifrits, oreads, and sylphs, undines are humans touched by planar elements. They are the scions of elemental water, equally graceful both on land and in water. Undines are adaptable and resistant to cold, and have an affinity for water magic. * Vanara - These mischievous, monkeylike humanoids dwell in jungles and warm forests. Covered in soft fur and sporting prehensile tails and handlike feet, vanaras are strong climbers. These creatures are at home both on the ground and among the treetops.